Sukhbir flays Centre for proposed hike in petroleum prices

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today slammed the Centre for the proposed hike in prices of petroleum products saying it would break the back of the poor and the middle classes.

"The Centre's proposed move to increase the price of petrol, diesel and cooking gas at a time when there has been an unprecedented rise in the prices of essential commodities in the country, would further ignite inflation and paralyse the economy by putting additional burden on the purchasing power of the people"  he said in a statement here.

The hike in the price of diesel would have a serious impact on agricultural growth, he said and held the Centre's thoughtless policies for the unprecedented price-spiral across the country.